Sam Bennett wins second Giro d’Italia sprint in Imola

Sam Bennett became the first Irish rider to win multiple Giro d’Italia stages in a year. He joined Elia Viviani and Simon Yates as multiple stage winners.

Making an early move in the final kilometer on the Formula 1 racetrack at Imola, Sam Bennett surged to victory on the second Thursday of the 2018 Giro d’Italia. Bennett won the rainy 214-kilometer ride from Osimo to Imola thanks to superb timing.

With the win, Bennett became the first Irish cyclist to win multiple road stages in a single Giro d’Italia. (Stephen Roche won two individual time trials and the team time trial at the 1987 Giro d’Italia. That was the same year Roche wore the pink jersey after 18 of the 24 stages and won the general classification by nearly four minutes.)

The stage looked like a rare opportunity for sprinters at this year’s Giro d’Italia. An early breakaway tried to thwart those ambitions, as they usually do in these cases. But the peloton reeled in the riders off the front, and Bennett accelerated early to get a jump on the other sprinters. Even after several hundred kilometers of riding, the Irish speedster had plenty of kick left.

Bennett’s winning move came after points leader Elia Viviani missed out on the final split. Viviani won two stages of the race in Israel, and looked for a while like the unbeatable sprinter in the field at this year’s Giro. But the suboptimal conditions, with crosswinds adding to the difficulties caused by the rain, caused Viviani to crack. Left alone by his team, Viviani straggled in nine minutes after the sprint for victory.

Time was never going to be an issue. Sprinters regularly lose large chunks of time. What Viviani lost instead was an opportunity to compete for another stage win, the real currency of sprinters. The misfortune also allowed Bennett to climb back into contention for the maglia ciclamino given out to the top cyclist in the points classification.

The points race has become a proper battle again

Viviani entered the 12th stage with a 66-point lead in the battle for the points jersey. The Italian exited the day just 22 points ahead of Bennett. Now the question will be whether both sprinters hang on to the finale in Rome. With some of the most intense mountain stages still to come, that is not highly likely.

Seeing sprinters leave midway through a grand tour is a time-honored tradition. That is part of the reason why historical lists of points classification winners reveal some interesting names. Often the battle outside of the general classification is a matter of attrition as much as superior skill.

The points classification tightened up a bunch, but the stage into Imola had little impact on the general classification. Simon Yates maintained his 47-second lead over defending champion Tom Dumoulin. Over the next few days, though, there are plenty of opportunities to see the race shake up at the top.

Lucky Stage 13 from Ferrara to Nervesa della Battaglia offers a final opportunity before the weekend for the sprinters. It will be the last chance for a sprint finish until Rome. Beginning on Saturday, five mountaintop finishes and an individual time trial feature on the race map for the next eight days.

Next: Giro d'Italia 2018: Everything you need to know about the route

It has already been a successful race for both Bennett and Viviani. Both will be back in the hunt tomorrow, but will it be their last stage before bowing out of the Giro d’Italia?